Narendra Khair, a physically challenged man from Chaudhary VDC-7, has been frequenting the Bajhang district headquarters, Chainpur, with a request for a wheelchair for the last five years.

“I have been visiting the district headquarters after learning that the government has been allocating budget for physically challenged persons. Over the years, I have written five applications asking for a wheelchair, but to no avail,”said Khair.

Thirty-year-old Khair was born disabled below his waist, which means he has to use his arms to get around.

To reach Chainpur, Khair has to cover a distance of 25 km from his village. He says he has to crawl through 10 km (which takes well over six hours for him) to reach the nearest bus stop.

Khair believes that a wheelchair could end his trouble.

Khair visits the office of the District Development Committee (DDC) seven to eight times a year. Every time, he requests the DDC officials for a wheelchair. And every time, he returns home empty-handed.

“I even tried sharing my plight to political leaders thinking they could help me out. No luck so far,” he said.

Sher Bahadur Bista, an employee at the DDC, said that the budget for disabled are channelled through the organisations that work with the physically challenged persons. “We do not have a specific programme where we distribute wheelchairs from here,” he said.